Markets turn highly volatile amid Budget presentation

Mumbai: Stock markets turned highly volatile amid the Union Budget presentation on Tuesday.

The 30-share BSE Sensex jumped as soon as Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman began presenting the Budget for 2024-25. But, within minutes it slipped in the red and later traded flat, down 38.17 points at 80,457.02 at 11:41 hrs.

The NSE Nifty also ticked higher as the finance minister began presentation of her 7th Union Budget in the Lok Sabha. However, volatile trends soon came in and the benchmark traded 18.25 points lower at 24,491.

The BSE benchmark had climbed 264.33 points to 80,766.41 in early trade. The Nifty went up 73.3 points to 24,582.55.

This is the first Budget during Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's third term in office.

India's economic growth continues to shine while the global economy is still in the grip of policy uncertainty, Sitharaman said.

The country's inflation continues to be stable and is moving towards 4 per cent, and core inflation stands at 3.1 per cent.

Among the Sensex pack, Power Grid, Reliance Industries, Bajaj Finance, JSW Steel, Bharti Airtel and Bajaj Finserv were the major laggards.

ITC, Hindustan Unilever, Adani Ports and UltraTech Cement were among biggest gainers.

Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) bought equities worth Rs 3,444.06 crore on Monday, according to exchange data.

In Asian markets, Seoul and Tokyo traded higher while Shanghai and Hong Kong quoted lower.

The US markets ended in positive territory on Monday.

Global oil benchmark Brent crude traded marginally lower by 0.07 per cent to USD 82.34 a barrel.

Falling for the second day in a row, the BSE benchmark fell 102.57 points or 0.13 per cent to settle at 80,502.08 on Monday.

The NSE Nifty dipped 21.65 points or 0.09 per cent to 24,509.25.